


You, Me, and Nuclear Fallout

by Krembearry



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: M/M, i dont know enough about fallout sORRY, just accept it for what it is, marked mature for later chapters, technically a fallout au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 04:39:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5814496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krembearry/pseuds/Krembearry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So imagine there's bombs and shit, right? Well, you're alone with your best friend, no one else survived, at least not that you know of, and you've got a gun and some snack bars. What do you do?</p><p>[forever unfinished bc ray left ah soo i mean like... why would i update this lol]</p>
            </blockquote>





	You, Me, and Nuclear Fallout

Michael and Ray were best friends. Since they started school, they had been friends. They lived next door to each other, which meant they basically lived in the same house. All of their parents were used to avoiding multiple children, since Ray also got along with all of Michael’s brothers. Michael and Ray’s fathers, however, were both often absent, working on their little pet project in the backyard. The kids would help where they could, but only so many children under the age of ten can assist in anything. 

Michael was chasing Ray right now, running after him and tackling him to the ground. Ray was normally faster than this, but he seemed distracted. Michael punched him softly in the arm and pulled him upright.

“Ray, what’s wrong? Normally I can’t catch you ‘til you get tired.” His concern for his little friend was obvious, and he pats Ray’s head. It’s what their parents always do to calm them down. Ray sighs, then starts pulling up little blades of grass. 

“My dad says the war is gettin’ real bad.”

“Yeah? And what’s that gotta do with us? We aren’t anywhere near the war!”

“He said when I grow up I’m probably gonna join the army.” 

This gives Michael an odd feeling. He grabs onto Ray’s shoulder and makes him look up from the grass. 

“Listen. If you’re going in the army,  _ I’m _ going in the army. We’re best friends forever, and I’ll follow you, no matter what happens.” 

Ray ducks his head back down, but now he’s smiling. Suddenly he jumps up and slaps Michael’s chest, screaming that he’s ‘it’, and tearing off in the other direction. Michael shouts and runs after him, yelling that was unfair, but Ray is laughing. He can only smile and hope to catch his faster friend.

\---

Years pass.

They’re both around fifteen, though Michael is a couple years older. Their dads call them over to show them the project.

“What is it?” Both boys ask at the same time. Ray is quicker when he says Michael owes him a Nuka Cola. Michael sighs and takes out a dollar, slapping it into Ray’s hand with a muttered ‘buy your own damn Cola’. 

Their dads lead them down the cellar stairs, then turn on the lights, revealing something bizarre. Ray recognizes it first.

“Is this… a bunker?”

“Yes! It is. We’ve been hearing about the war getting worse and worse, and there’s talk of atom bombs. Vault-Tec hasn’t responded to anything we’ve said, so we made our own ‘Vault’. This way, if there is nuclear fallout, we have a stand by.” Michael’s dad is technical about it, and Ray’s dad follows up on that. 

“Now, we don’t want you to get worried, but this is just the rumor and we thought, ‘hey, better safe than irradiated beyond belief’, right? So we built this. There’s no real way to test it, but if anything happens, we want you kids to get inside and wait until the alarm starts blaring. The second you hear the alarms, shut the doors. Not that we’ll need this. No one is going to start bombing the US. The Commonwealth is way too good for that.” Ray Sr. smiles and pats the walls, then releases the boys to go play again. They run off as the dads round up the brothers now, explaining it to them separately. Michael stops Ray once they get a little ways away.

“Do you… think we’ll need that? We should probably be paying more attention, huh.” Ray nods, then climbs up the tree to get his portable radio. They both sit down at the base of the trunk. Ray twists the knob and it crackles into life. The announcer starts talking, and neither of them expect the words. 

“Nuclear war seems closer than we Americans would like to think. Our enemies seem to think threatening our great country will weaken our spirits, but we stand tall! All of our citizens stand together during these troubling times. At this point, it’s only a matter of months before the war is over. Bombs won’t start flying towards us, if I have any say. Now, for a softer story. This we-”

Ray shuts off the radio.

“Do you really think everything is gonna be okay? We’ll win the war in just a couple of months?” 

Michael regrets that he can’t say yes.

\---

They hear the names of the towns on the radio, sometimes on television. Ray spends a lot of time practicing with guns now, and he isn’t around as much as he used to be. When he’s available, he runs to Michael and demands to know where the bombs fell today.

He lists them off almost mechanically.

“Boston, Massachusetts. Saskatchewan, Canada. They bombed Portland, Oregon yesterday, so not even the west is safe. Two cities in one day, Ray. They’re going too fast. There’s talk of them hitting Philly next.”

“What? No, nonono, we’re supposed to be the safe ones. We’re way too close to Philly. An atomic bomb isn’t gonna come all the way into Jersey from Philly, is it?”

Michael can’t answer. He knows what it is, but he doesn’t want to say it. Ray starts twisting the hem of his shirt because he knows the answer too.

But it won’t ever come to that.

It won’t.

It won’t.

_ It won’t. _

That’s what their mantra was for the next month.

\---

Michael and Ray lay on the lawn at night, staring up at the stars. With the bombs falling all day, the only safe time was night. Their shoulders touched. A basic contact, but with a deep comfort behind it.

A few days ago they bombed Waterloo in New York. Some of Ray’s family lived there, and he doesn’t know if they’re okay.

His mother refuses to let them stress about it. Even Michael’s father’s recent illness isn’t enough to deter her spirit. Ray’s mom says they should keep up their normal lives, and as such, Ray’s sister is out at a friend’s house, with Michael’s brothers at some party or something. Ray and Michael lay on the grass and stare at the sky.

“Y’know, it’s their anniversary today.”

“Who?”

“My parents. They went out to dinner. I think they wanted to do a double date with your parents because they’re super gay, but your dad really needs his rest.”

“Yeah, he’s been tired a lot. But he’s getting better. Soon he’ll be fine.”

“No kidding, he’s like a bull. That guy could- oh shit, look, a shooting star!”

They both sit up, staring at it, and then Michael socks Ray in the arm. 

“No, over there,  _ that’s _ a shooting star. What the  _ fuck _ is that you saw?” 

Ray’s heart clenches in fear and he bolts into Michael’s house, jumping the fence. He slams into Michael’s parents’ room, heart fluttering like a bird. 

“We need to get in the bunker, now! Something’s falling from the sky and it isn’t a fucking star, c’mon, c’mon-!” He rouses Denise then goes for the dad, trying to haul him out of bed. Michael shows up then, and Denise helps too, all three of them trying to drag him to the bunker. Michael is the strongest but even he can’t lift his dad. They get to the back door when it hits.

It must have been closer than Philly, a slight misdirection. They can see the mushroom cloud starting to fly into the air. They can see the fire already and shit, it must be even closer than they thought. Michael’s dad rips himself from their grip, pushing the kids. 

“Go, get in, we’ll catch up, I can’t move quite yet.”

Michael hesitates, but Ray has been training in taking orders and he nods, sprinting to their ‘Vault’. He stands in the door, waiting for Michael and his parents. Michael keeps trying to help his dad, but his dad is just taking his time.

“I’m not going to make it. To think, twenty feet and I can’t make it. Denise, go ahead, stay with Mikey.”

“I’m not going to leave you.”

He laughs and calls her bullheaded. “This is the way it would be, wouldn’t it? Michael, go.”

He can’t deny this order and Michael hurries into the bunker. The alarm inside starts going off and Ray grabs the door but he doesn’t close it.

“Close the door! What are you doing?”

Neither of the kids can listen to the father. They stare and there’s a terrible silence in their hearts.

“Close the damn door!”

Ray twitches, but he can’t do it. Tears start pricking at the corners of his eyes.

“CLOSE THE  _ FUCKING  _ DOOR GODDAMMIT!”

Michael grabs it and slams it shut, locking it and making sure it’s sealed tight. He backs away from the door, then crumples to the floor. “Fuck, fuck fuck fuck FUCK!” He punches the metal ground, just as the winds hit them. No matter how secure the bunker is, the earth around them shakes violently, and the stress over takes them both.

Hours later, they wake up.

They don’t know what’s outside, but they’re not going out there. Neither of them want to see the two mangled bodies they know lie in the yard. Besides, there’s provisions inside the bunker and it lasts them months. It can't last forever though, and Ray says it first. 

“We aren't going to make it in here. This isn't a Vault. It's just a bunker our dads made. People out there are probably desperate. They'll raid this place when they find it. Dad- he left a gun in here, I can use it. We’ll go out there and make our way.” He'd been expecting resistance. Michael walked to the door and touched the locking mechanism, hands trembling. 

“Do you want me to?”

“No, I have to do this.”

Michael opens the door and its like a wasteland outside. The grass is gone and half the house has collapsed. There's nothing in the yard, and something howls in the distance. Carefully, the two boys emerge into the sun and look around. Ray’s house is in complete ruin. Nothing is left. Ray feels a little sick. 

“Let's go in the house.” It isn't what Ray expected to hear. He nods and walks inside. They hear shuffling and Ray cocks the gun, sneaking in with Michael. 

The table is still standing, somehow. There's a box on it that Michael knows wasn't there when they left. With as many times as he's relived that night, he would remember it. He approaches the box with caution, the opens it before letting Ray check. 

He lifts out the brand-new Pip-Boy and puts it on. Michael looks at Ray, and they both take stock of the situation. 

One. Their families are probably all dead. 

Two. They are two teenage boys in what appears to be an apocalypse. 

Three. They're very likely to die. 

They look at each other. They both know these facts. 

“C'mon Ray. Let's make mama proud.” 

Ray grins, because that's what he needed. Of course! Just do what they're parents would have wanted. 

Survive. 


End file.
